Junior dos Santos was looking to start another run at regaining the heavyweight championship. He had been scheduled to battle fellow slugger and rising star Francis Ngannou at UFC 215. An impressive win and dos Santos would have been back on track to get toward his goal.

A bump in the road occurred last August when dos Santos was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for small traces of the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide. His suspension was reduced from one year to six months after it was determined he tested positive for a tainted supplement.

The former champ will compete in his first bout in 14 months Saturday when he takes on Blagoy Ivanov in the main event of UFC Boise.

"It was the most frustrating time in my career because it wasn't just the time off without fighting, but also because of this thing with USADA," dos Santos told Sporting News. "I never imagined I could go through something like that. What happened to me was terrible. I don’t wish that for nobody. It doesn't matter anymore, though.

"I'm happy to be back because I have a tough opponent in front of me on Saturday night. I’m going to go in there and put on a good show, get the win and control my future."

Things have changed in the heavyweight division since we've last seen dos Santos. Former champion Josh Barnett has left the company and the best days of Alistair Overeem appear to be behind him. The biggest change of all is Miocic losing his title to light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier at last Saturday's UFC 226.

"That was a big surprise," dos Santos said. "Of course (Cormier) had a chance to win the fight but not the way he did. Nobody was expecting that, which is actually great. He connected on a good punch and knocked Stipe out.

"Everybody knows the heavyweight division is like this when you have big guys punching people in the face, like 90 percent of the people don’t have a good chance of recovering to continue the fight. He did some things well and Miocic made some simple mistakes during the fight and getting into the clinch and Cormier ended up winning a great fight to become the two-division world champion."

The biggest news coming out of the event wasn't Cormier winning the belt. After the fight ended, former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar got into a confrontation with Cormier inside the Octagon. They are expected to fight in early 2019 at an to-be-determined event.

"It was weird," dos Santos said. "At the beginning, I didn't understand what was happening. That was the most special moment of Cormier’s career and then (he) invites Brock Lesnar to step inside the Octagon. I didn't understand that at all. Then everything turned into a theater and a circus. Now I understand a little bit more because Cormier said at the postfight press conference that when you have Brock Lesnar in front of you, it sells a lot of pay-per-views. He’s a smart champion. He wants an easy fight and get paid a lot of money."

Dos Santos and Lesnar were respective coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2011. They were set to face each other after the season concluded at UFC 131. Lesnar had to pull out because of his diverticulitis returning. No one knows how long the current WWE star will stay this time around, but "Cigano" wouldn't mind getting the matchup he was supposed to get seven years ago.

"Yes, sir, I do," dos Santos excitedly said. "If he’s here to stay, (then) I will fight him. Since we weren't able to fight when we supposed because he was sick, so for his return, a fight between us would be the right thing to do, not him for the title. It would be the right thing to do because we were supposed to fight in 2011."

Before a potential fight with Lesnar or getting another shot at recapturing the title, dos Santos must first get by the tough Ivanov (16-1-1).

"I was happy because I had a fight," dos Santos said. "At first, I didn't know who he was. I had to find video to see what type of fighter he was. I said 'Yes' right away. I don't pick my opponents. I'm not worried about a title shot right now. I just want to get either a knockout or a submission victory.

"I'm not thinking about any of that. I'm focused on this fight. I know there's a lot of work to do in the heavyweight division. There's a lot of guys I can have fights with. I'm ready for all (of) them. Eventually, a title fight is going to happen."